[Q1] We opened with a close-up on the video wall for your IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Marty Scurll. Ring announcer Bobby Cruise introduced him as such and Scurll had the title around his waist. He was also “representing Bullet Club.”

(1) BEER CITY BRUISER vs. “THE VILLAIN” MARTY SCURLL

On paper this would seem to be a rare heel vs. heel matchup but none of the Bullet Club members are truly treated like heels and even Riccaboni referred to Scurll as “one of the big time fan-favorites.” Scurll flapped his arms early before stomping on Bruiser’s fingers and dropkicking him to ringside. Scurll chopped Bruiser at ringside before rolling in and out to break the referee’s count. Bruiser did the same and charged with a cannonball on Scurll, who had been sat in a metal folding chair. Scurll dove out of the way and Bruiser crashed back-first into the metal barricade. [C]

Scurll’s Final Battle opponent Jay Lethal was at the top of the entrance ramp, scouting his opponent. Bruiser attempted a frog splash from the top rope but Scurll moved out of the way again. Scurll dropped to the floor, yanking Bruiser’s arm down over the top rope. Bruiser hit a surprise clothesline for the first two count of the match. He went to the second rope for another splash but Scurll caught him and hit a powerbomb. Scurll covered with his feet on the ropes but referee Todd Sinclair spotted it before counting three. Lethal chuckled and shook his head. Bruiser attempted a cannonball off the apron onto a standing Scurll at ringside but The Villain moved out of the way and Bruiser crashed yet again. Sinclair began to count out both men. At 15 (it’s a 20 second count-out in ROH) Scurll attempted to get Bruiser back in the ring but couldn’t lift the big man. Scurll gave up and elected to take a count-out victory but Bruiser rolled in at 19.

Scurll with an octopus hold. Bruiser to the ropes. Scurll called for the chickenwing. Bruiser tossed him off. Bruiser charged Scurll in the corner, The Villain dodged, yanking Sinclair into the trajectory, and the referee took the big splash instead. “You deserve it” chant from the crowd. With the ref down, Scurll grabbed his umbrella while eyeing Lethal warily. Lethal took a few steps down the ramp but paused. Scurll clocked Bruiser across the side of the head with the umbrella. Sinclair recovered and Scurll pinned Bruiser. Lethal nodded from the top of the ramp.

WINNER: “The Villain” Marty Scurll in 10:31

(Analysis: The story of the match was Bruiser attempting big moves and Scurll simply side-stepping each one. When the opportunity arose to use the umbrella he did so not because he needed to but because it was the villainous thing to do. Lethal’s decision not to get involved and his nodding after the victory poses a question in response to Scurll’s challenge from three weeks ago. Which opponent will Scurll get at Final Battle: the heroic Jay Lethal of late or the villainous Jay Lethal who once held both ROH singles titles at the same time?)

-Footage from October 28 in Mount Pleasant, MI of Dalton Castle first defeating Flip Gordon in a singles match and then pinning Matt Taven in a four corner elimination match to become the inaugural Soaring Eagle Cup winner. [C]

[Q2] -Dalton Castle was backstage, wearing a suit with a peacock pin. He was twelve years old the first time he stepped foot on a wrestling mat. High school wrestling photos of Castle were shown. “This is not something I like to do; this is what I do.” Footage from the 2015 Top Prospect tournament, Castle’s introduction to ROH. Footage of his recent brawls with Cody. Nobody gave him a free pass to becoming #1 contender to the ROH World Championship. He earned this and he’s willing to suplex everybody who doubts him. He wishes their Final Battle match was just about two men finding out who’s the best but Cody has made this about so much more. Footage from ROH The Experience (February 2 in Columbus, OH) where Cody disguised himself as one of The Boys and kicked Castle between the legs. Footage of the last time Castle challenged for the ROH World Championship at Supercard Of Honor XI (April 1 in Lakeland, FL) where he lost via roll-up to Christopher Daniels. Post-match Cody jumped both men from behind and kicked Castle between the legs again. Footage from War Of The Worlds UK (August 20 in Edinburgh, Scotland) with Cody attacking Castle backstage and in the parking lot, taking him out of action, all while calling him a novelty act. Footage of Cody throwing The Boys into two large trunks and “shipping them” somewhere. Footage of Castle making Hangman Page tap out in their singles match two weeks ago. “At Final Battle, Cody’s going to walk in as Ring Of Honor Champion and I’m going to be the man who kicks Cody’s (bleeped out).”

(Analysis: Solid promo and video package telling the story that this is not a new rivalry between the two but rather something that has been building steadily for nearly a year. The ROH Championship match at Final Battle is almost always a heated grudge match with a long history and while this doesn’t quite match the intensity of Cole vs. O’Reilly or Steen vs. Generico this package did a nice job of collecting all the pieces of the Castle-Cody feud and lining them up. It’s worth noting, though, that Castle only promised to kick Cody’s (bleep). He didn’t make any such promise about capturing the gold.)

-Riccaboni and Castle discussed the match on camera. Next week on television will be the contract signing.

-Clip of The Briscoes at a live event in Fort Lauderdale. The brothers called out Bully Ray but he was nowhere to be found. We then went to “disgusting” footage that Riccaboni didn’t even want to show of The Briscoes going to Bully’s wrestling gym, the Team 3D Academy.

-Mark Briscoe was filming with his cell phone. Two men and a woman were training in the ring when they arrived. Mark demanded to know where Bully was but the trainees claimed he wasn’t there. “He’s got to be around here somewhere,” Mark said. “D-Von here?” The trainees introduced themselves and reasserted that Bully wasn’t there. Jay Briscoe thought they were full of (bleep) and coldcocked the two men. The woman yelled for help as Mark told her to “shut the (bleep) up.” Jay took some photos off the wall (The Dudleys with The Hardy Boyz, with Terry Funk, with The Midnight Express and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express) and smashed them. “Tag team legends right there.” Jay found a giant poster of Bully that listed all the concussions and injuries he’s had in his career. “And you’re going to let me take you out?! What’s it going to take to get your (bleep) in the ring with us?!” Jay spit on the poster. The female trainee said the cops were on the way and The Briscoes needed to leave now. They ignored her and threw one of the male trainees into the ring, dropping him with a 3D. [C]

(Analysis: I’m a big fan of almost any time a wrestling company leaves the arena to record video and this was no exception. Jay wants Bully in the ring and he’s not going to stop until he gets it. Roughing up his protégés and spitting (both literally and figuratively) on his accomplishments is terrific. They say you should never meet your heroes. I guess the story here is that Jay Briscoe did and he was completely disappointed with what he found.)

-Coleman’s Pulpit: his guest this week was a 20-year veteran on the cusp of the most important match of his life… Caprice Coleman! Host Coleman sat in his usual chair wearing a vest while Guest Coleman sat across from him, dressed in a full suit. Guest Coleman didn’t know why Kenny King got so upset last week. All he did was tell the truth. Host Coleman asked his guest if he was jealous of King’s success. Guest Coleman believes anyone can be champion if they’re given the right opportunity. Host Coleman pointed out that, should he win the World Television Championship from King next week, he would then have to defend it in a four-way match at Final Battle. Guest Coleman said, “Kenny King, you’re not a king. You’re not a peasant. You’re not even a pawn. Kenny, you’re a ho!” Host Coleman laughed.

(Analysis: When the segment began I groaned. Coleman’s Pulpit has been pretty good since its inception, but I don’t want them to have it on the show every week. I’m afraid that would run it into the ground like a certain talk show on a competitor’s Monday night wrestling show. This was actually really fun, though. The split screen use of Coleman interviewing himself was funny. Since Coleman tends to laugh at his own jokes most of the time anyway, what better than literally having two Caprices to banter with each other?)

-Riccaboni and Cabana reminded us that the winner of King vs. Coleman next week will defend the TV title in a four corner elimination match against Punishment Martinez, Shane Taylor, and Silas Young at Final Battle. Also on that card is War Machine vs. The Addiction.

[Q3] -Recap of last week’s brawl between the two tag teams. Riccaboni said it led to a fan getting hurt but they didn’t show any footage of the incident and Cabana said the litigators were dealing with it. Nice touch. “Pending further investigation, Ray Rowe has been temporarily sidelined.”

-The announcers took us to footage from the November 11 live event in Fort Lauderdale, FL at the War Memorial Auditorium.

Matt Taven was not at ringside. The Kingdom jumped the champions as they were finishing introductions. Early in the match Shelley put O’Ryan on the shoulders of a kneeling Marseglia and Sabin hit a bulldog on both men from the top rope. Shelley covered O’Ryan for two. Shelley put O’Ryan in the figure four. Sabin did the same to Marseglia. O’Ryan made a rope break. The Kingdom tossed the Machine Guns out of the ring and posed with the tag titles on the apron. [C]

Shelley broke free of a double team and made the tag to Sabin. Sabin took out both opponents. Missile dropkick to Marseglia. Suicide dive on The Kingdom. O’Ryan with a cutter on Sabin, followed by Marseglia with a senton. Sabin kicked out at two. Cabana reminded us that Best Friends are challenging the winners at Final Battle. After some back and forth action Marseglia decided to get his ax. O’Ryan grabbed a baseball bat. As the referee removed the ax O’Ryan charged Sabin with the bat. Sabin moved and O’Ryan stopped just short of hitting his partner. But when O’Ryan lunged a second time, Sabin dodged again and Marseglia went down. Machine Guns hit a double team move I didn’t recognize (Riccaboni simply said, “Yes indeed! Has to be it!”) for the win.

WINNERS: Motor City Machine Guns in 11:50 to retain the ROH tag titles.

[Q4] -Back at RP Funding Center, it was main event time. Out first was a “co-holder of the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship, representing the Bullet Club, Adam Page”. [C]

(3) HANGMAN PAGE vs. FLIP GORDON

Page pie-faced Gordon before the bell. After that, Gordon refused to attempt the code of honor. Page swung a series of fists at Gordon but he flipped out of the way repeatedly. Gordon headscissored Page out of the ring, followed up with a dropkick through the ropes, and landed the first successful moonsault of the match. Page caught Gordon with a big boot in the ring. Gordon was hung up in the corner, dangling upside down over the apron. Page set up a steel chair, ran, and jumped off the chair into a dropkick on Gordon. [C]

Gordon hit a leaping hurracanrana on Page off the top rope and followed with a running shooting star press for two. Page landed a moonsault from the top rope to the floor. In the ring they exchanged chops. Gordon flipped out of a Rite of Passage attempt. Gordon with a Pele kick and a corkscrew springboard stunner for the win.

WINNER: Flip Gordon in 8:42

-As Gordon celebrated, the referee was tossed out and replaced by Matt Jackson in a referee shirt. He went from raising the victor’s hand to trapping Gordon by the arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked over a microphone. Nick Jackson with a superkick to Gordon. The fans of course cheered.

-Backstage at the production booth Cody was watching with the ROH World Championship over his shoulder. “Flip Gordon is delusional! He’s just as delusional and naïve as Dalton Castle.”

(Analysis: Page is the lowest-ranking member of Bullet Club but he’s still consistently presented as a star so this is a big win for Gordon. Actually it’s only Flip’s second televised singles victory in ROH, the first being an enhancement win over Corey Hollis back in September. Both men looked good here and I’m still surprised Page hasn’t held singles gold in ROH, though I suspect a TV title reign could definitely be in the cards for him in 2018.)-Next week: it’s Kenny King vs. Caprice Coleman for the ROH World Television Championship, Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal, and the Final Battle contract signing between Cody and Dalton Castle.

SHOW SUMMARY: In this edition of the Wade Keller Hotline, PWTorch editor Wade Keller reviews Raw start to finish with rundown and analysis of show including final Summerslam angles with Paul Heyman-Roman Reigns-Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey-Alexa Bliss, Seth Rollins-Dolph Ziggler with return of Team, Kevin Owens-Braun Strowman, and more. NOT VIP? [...]